Eagles open indoor season at UNH

NICK BROWN runs with the field in the 1,500 meters at UNH on Dec. 21. Joshua Spaulding. (click for larger version)

December 26, 2013

DURHAM — The Kennett indoor track team opened up the new season with a meet at the University of New Hampshire in Durham on Saturday, Dec. 21.

The Eagles kicked off against Division I schools Londonderry, Bedford, Salem, Nashua North and Manchester Central, plus a number of Division II squads.

On the girls' side of things, the Eagles were able to pick up some points in a few different events.

The top finisher on the day was Gracie Ryan, who leaped to fourth overall in the long jump, going 14 feet, 9.5 inches. Teammate Cassie Doucet was ninth in the same event at 13 feet, 11 inches, with Tessa Greenhalgh in 16th at 12 feet, 6.5 inches.

Gigi Miller also picked up points for the Eagle girls, as she finished seventh in the 55-meter dash preliminaries in a time of 7.7 seconds and then went on to finish fifth in the finals in the same time. In the preliminaries, Doucet was 23rd in 8.2 seconds and Greenhalgh and Nichole LaRoche tied for 29th in 8.4 seconds.

Maggie LaRoche also got in on the points for the Eagles, as she raced to a fourth place finish in the 600 meters in a time of 1:49.7. Heidi Jenis was 29th in 2:18.2, Michaela Stanton was 30th in 2:21.6 and Erika Szekely was 32nd in 2:34.

The Eagle 4X400-meter relay team also picked up points, with a sixth place finish for the team of Eliza Burke, Lisa Carper, Izzy Forde and Maggie LaRoche.

Forde just missed out on scoring points in the 1,000 meters, finishing eighth in 3:40.5, with Burke in 13th in 3:46. Carper raced to ninth in the 1,500 meters in a time of 5:49.9.

In the 55-meter hurdles preliminary race, Jen Vizard was 12th in 10.3 seconds and Alexis Sanborn was 18th in 11.5 seconds.

In the high jump, Ryan finished just out of the points in seventh in four feet, eight inches and Nichole LaRoche was eighth at four feet, four inches. In the 4X160-meter relay, the team of Greenhalgh, Doucet, Ryan and Miller finished in eighth in a time of 1:33.5.

For the Eagle boys, Thomas Chant ran to second place in the 55 meters preliminaries, finishing in 6.7 seconds. He then went on to finish third in the finals with a time of 6.9 seconds. Brian Caputo was 20th in 7.1 seconds, Will Davison was 35th in 7.6 seconds and Sam Cawley was 36th in 7.7 seconds.

In the 1,500 meters, Nick Brown took fourth place overall in a time of 4:30, with Ryan Kenny in 14th in 5:05.4, Nick Whitley in 20th in 5:34.8, Johnathan Caputo in 23rd in 5:36.6 and Jon Brady in 25th in 5:42.

The Eagles also picked up points in the 4X400-meter relay, where the team of Andrew Casella, Brian Caputo, Tyrus Parker and Thomas Chant finished fifth in 3:59.

In the 300 meters, Kyle O'Keefe was 16th in 42.4 seconds, with Carter Allen in 26th in 44.9 seconds, Michael Welch in 31st in 45.9 seconds and Noah Dubois in 33rd in 47.5 second. In the 600 meters, Tim Ryan finished with a time of 1:59.4, putting him 24th overall.

In the 1,000 meters, Parke was the top Eagle, placing 13th in 3:08.4, with Alex Brown in 18th in 3:11 and Andrew Casella in 20 in 3:11.5. The Eagle team of Cawley, Davison, DuBois and O'Keefe finished just out of the points in the 4X160 meters, placing seventh in 1:28.9.

Corey Crawford rounded out the field of Eagles in the shot put, finishing in 11th place with a throw of 37 feet, 8.5 inches.

The Eagles were in action on Dec. 28 at UNH, but due to early holiday deadlines, that meet took place after the sports section deadline. The team will get back at it on Sunday, Jan. 5, at 12:15 p.m. at UNH.

Joshua Spaulding can be reached at 569-3126 or sportsgsn@salmonpress.com.